Sexual assault in the US military: A review of the literature and recommendations for the future

The purpose of the current review was to examine sexual assault in the United States military. The current paper reviews prevalence rates, factors that may contribute to the high rates of sexual assault within the military, and the effects of military sexual violence. The paper also investigates the military's response to combating sexual assault among its servicemembers as well as recommendations for further improvement. Sexual assault continues to be a problem within the armed forces. And, although the military has recently implemented many new programs and prevention efforts, there continues to be a need for change within the military in order to reduce sexual victimization and perpetration. There also needs to be more evaluation of the current programs in order to determine their effectiveness. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.